PATIENTS and campaigners marked World Kidney Day yesterday by seeing construction start on a long-awaited dialysis unit in Southport.

PATIENTS and campaigners marked World Kidney Day yesterday by seeing construction start on a long-awaited dialysis unit in Southport.

Work has begun at Southport & Formby District Hospital on building a 12-station renal dialysis unit, which is expected to be in full operation before the end of the year.

Its arrival will mean the end of gruelling journeys to Waterloo, Aintree or central Liverpool for local patients needing lengthy dialysis sessions, three times a week.

Dr Craig Gradden, clinical director of nephrology at Aintree University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Southport has long been in need of its own dialysis unit and we are delighted that the infrastructure is now in place at Aintree to support this important development.

“The additional capacity created in Southport will enable patients to make some choices about their treatments, which they are not currently able to do.”

Local kidney patient groups greeted January’s news that NHS chiefs had signed-off on a dialysis unit for Southport as a victory for their years of campaigning – which was supported by the Southport Visiter.

Colin Jones, a member of Southport Kidney Fund, was consulted by the NHS on its plans as a patient representative on the local implementation group for Southport.

He said: “This is absolutely the best news ever. Southport has been waiting 20 years for this unit.

“I personally have been on dialysis for 15 years, and have been making the 45-minute journey back and forth to Waterloo.

“This new unit will be five minutes from my front door.”

Dr Leslie Grimshaw, chairman of Southport Dialysis Unit Fund, said the new unit was a fitting memorial to his late wife June, who died in 2003 after two years of dialysis. “People don’t realise the toll that travelling backwards and forwards for dialysis takes, not just on the patients, but on their families as well,” he said.

“This unit is the fulfilment of my wife’s dream.”

World Kidney Day highlights a condition that affects more than 3million people in the UK alone, with there estimated to be more than 40 dialysis users in Southport and Formby alone.

The annual event also aims to boost the number of people who sign up to become organ donors, with there currently being long waiting lists for a kidney transplant.

Dr Gradden added: “While transplantation remains the most effective form of treatment for chronic kidney disease, not every patient is suitable for surgery.

“Therefore, for many, dialysis remains a life-saving treatment and possibly the only option open to them in terms of managing their condition.”

For more details see www.worldkidneyday.org and www.uktransplant.org.uk